Visible damp in a child’s bedroom but not elsewhere in the house is associated with respiratory symptoms and inhaler requirement in early life: a multi-centre cohort study

<bold>Introduction:</bold> Damp exposure in the home is an important public health problem that causes significant respiratory morbidity in children. We sought to assess the impact of the location of household damp on respiratory symptoms, infections, medication prescription and health care utilisation for wheeze during the first two years of life. <bold>Methods:</bold> Household damp exposure was determined in children recruited to the GO-CHILD multi-centre birth cohort study. The frequency of respiratory symptoms, infections, healthcare utilisation and medication prescription for wheeze were collected by questionnaires at 12 and 24 months. Log binomial and ordered logistic regression models were fitted to the data. <bold>Results:</bold> Follow-up was obtained in 1344 children. Visible damp was present in a quarter of homes (25.4%) with 1 in 12 children’s bedrooms affected (8.3%). Damp in the child’s bedroom was associated with increased risk of dry cough (relative risk (RR) 1.48, 95%CI 1.01-2.14; p=0.044) and odds of primary care attendance for cough and wheeze (odds ratio (OR) 1.45, 95%CI 1.07-1.97; p=0.016). There was also increased risk of reliever inhaler (RR 1.40, 95%CI 1.00-1.96; p=0.048) and inhaled corticosteroid (RR 2.26, 95%CI 1.08-4.74; p=0.031) prescription. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Damp in the child’s bedroom was associated with increased respiratory morbidity. Health professionals should enquire about both the presence and location of household damp in children presenting with recurrent respiratory symptoms. Visible damp in a child’s bedroom could be used to help identify those families most urgently in need of targeted household damp treatment.